It looks like the five-tier tower will be discontinued starting this year at the Nishinomiya City Junior High School Joint Sports Meet.
Five-tier human tower canceled at junior high school sports meet at Koshien Stadium, Nishinomiya (Kobe Shimbun NEXT) – Yahoo! News
According to the linked article, the third-year boys’ group gymnastics “five-tier tower” will be discontinued starting this year.
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What will change from this year?
Here is a quick summary of the changes.
- Five-tier tower → two-tier tower
- Five-tier pyramid → four-tier pyramid
Since the five-tier tower had continued for more than 30 years, it seems there were also opinions calling for it to continue.
Changes at the elementary school joint sports meet too
At the elementary school joint sports meet held in November, the tower will also be changed to two tiers, and the pyramid to three tiers.
Hyogo Prefecture apparently has many group gymnastics accidents
Apparently, Hyogo Prefecture has had a high number of group gymnastics accidents for three consecutive years.
Out of 4,418 group gymnastics accidents nationwide, Hyogo Prefecture accounted for 566, making up about 10% of the national total.
Also, last year in Hyogo Prefecture, 160 schools attempted four-tier and five-tier formations. It seems there was even a junior high school that did a nine-tier pyramid.
Finally
A five-tier tower is apparently over four meters tall.
There is tradition behind it, and it must bring a real sense of accomplishment, but considering the number of injuries and the fatal accidents that have occurred nationwide, discontinuing it may be unavoidable.
